South Korean pin-up Kim Yu-Na and American Shaun White are the top-earning athletes at the upcoming Winter Olympics, each pocketing $8 million in 2009, Forbes magazine reported Tuesday.

Figure-skating star Kim, 19 pulled in top dollar for her dynamic aerial skills and the commercial spin-offs that come with being not just a world champion, but a highly marketable one.

While she only earned $150,000 in prize money, Kim banked nearly $8 million from sponsors including Hyundai Motor, Kookim Bank, Nike and Procter and Gamble, Forbes said

Her Samsung Electronics “Yu-Na Haptic” style phone, launched in May last year, broke a company record in December when unit sales passed the one million mark in less than seven months.

Snowboarder White, who won gold at the Winter X Games, earned $40,000 in prize money but, like Kim, bagged huge amounts from sponsors like Burton, Red Bull, Target, and AT&T.

Such is his celebrity that energy-drink maker Red Bull built him his own $500,000 half-pipe in a Colorado location so remote he needs a helicopter to shuttle him there.

It was there that White invented the most dangerous trick in his repertoire — the double McTwist 1260, Forbes said.

The daring stunt involves an inverted aerial in which he launches himself up off the side of a snow-packed embankment and flips head over heels twice while spinning three and a half times and holding his board.

Rounding out the top five were American skiers Lindsey Vonn with $3 million and Ted Ligety with $2 million. Speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno made $1.5 million.